Raymond R. Donadio Sr., who was a co-founder of the Towson law firm of Donadio & Donadio, died Sunday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Timonium home. He was 83.

“He did his job and didn’t bow to anybody,” said his brother, Robert E. Donadio Sr., who still practices law in Timonium. “And when we worked together, we never lost a case.”

Raymond Richard Donadio Sr. was the son of Anthony P. Donadio Sr., a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lawyer, and Violet Donadio, a homemaker. He was born in Indianapolis and moved in 1934 with his family to a home on Springlake Way in Homeland.

He was a 1951 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, where he played varsity football, and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1956 from what is now Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

Mr. Donadio worked as a claims representative for State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. while attending law school at night at the University of Maryland, from which he graduated in 1962.

While he was in law school, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates.

“I guess our becoming lawyers was inevitable,” said his brother, who lives in Timonium. “Our father was a lawyer, and our uncle founded the largest law firm in Indiana. I guess we felt if we didn’t go to law school, we would be ostracized from the family.”

After passing the Maryland bar examination in 1963, Mr. Donadio served as an assistant state’s attorney for Baltimore, working under Charles E. Moylan Jr., who was state’s attorney from 1964 to 1970.

“Dick was on my staff, and that was more than 50 years ago,” said Judge Moylan, who is retired from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. “My memories of Dick were that he was a good, solid member of the court of law, and a pepper pot of energy.”

“Dick was one of 30 full-time lawyers who would go out to the police districts, which were annexes of the court, to prosecute cases. It used to be that a police officer would prosecute and handle the case for the state,” Judge Moylan said.

“He was a dynamo and went from station house to station house prosecuting these cases and did an excellent job,” he said. “This was pioneering at the time, and Dick was a pioneer when it came to getting full-time attorneys in those annex courts.”

In 1966, Mr. Donadio partnered with his father and brother and established the law firm of Donadio & Donadio in the Equitable Building in downtown Baltimore.

The firm later relocated to the Loyola Federal Building in Towson and moved in the early 1970s to an office in the 300 block of E. Joppa Road.

“I remember he practiced all day and then would go to night court,” said Gloria Smedburg, who was his administrative assistant for more than 30 years.

She described Mr. Donadio as “very outgoing.”

“When we moved to Towson, he made sure there was a standing order every day for large pizzas from a Baltimore Street pizza parlor, and at noon, the entire staff would gather and we’d eat pizza,” she said.

Ms. Smedburg said Mr. Donadio focused on personal injury, divorce and worker’s compensation cases.

She recalled one case in which Mr. Donadio’s client decided to file for bankruptcy in addition to getting a divorce.

“He didn’t do bankruptcy cases, but he explained what she had to do,” Ms. Smedburg said. “She owed him money and then listed him on the bankruptcy as a creditor. He wasn’t happy about that.”

Mark Spurrier, a Carroll County attorney, became acquainted with Mr. Donadio in the early 1980s when he was studying law at the University of Baltimore.

“I was also working for the Baltimore County police, and I was looking for a place to do legal research, and he gave me access to his law library,” Mr. Spurrier said.

“He was a man who was committed to the law and helping young people, and that made a lasting impression on me,” he said. “He knew the challenges of law school and wanted to help young people and went out of his way to do it.”

He credited Mr. Donadio with getting him through law school.

“If I had questions, he’d give me his thoughts,” Mr. Spurrier said. “He was my mentor and friend.”

Mr. Donadio retired in 2002.

For years he lived in a home on Dartmouth Road in Govans.

“He was very family-oriented, and his brother lived in a rowhouse five houses away,” said a son, Steven W. Donadio of Parkton. “When he moved to Timonium, he moved into a house next door to his brother’s.”

Mr. Donadio enjoyed building model airplanes, golfing and travel.

He had been a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Govans and St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Cockeysville.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Peaceful Alternatives Funeral and Cremation Center, 2325 York Road in Timonium.

In addition to his son and brother, he is survived by four other sons, Raymond R. Donadio Jr. of Finksburg, Michael L. Donadio of Berlin, Worcester County, Thomas C. Donadio of Timonium and Anthony P. Donadio of Baltimore; a daughter, Carol L. Donadio of Berlin, Worcester County; 16 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. His marriage to Carol Lee Joyner ended in divorce.

frasmussen@baltsun.com